AWARENESS AND CHALLENGES OF THE “SCHOOL-ON-AIR” PROGRAMME OF THE BROADCASTING CORPORATION OF OYO STATE IN THE IBADAN METROPOLIS DURING THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

Abstract

It appears that online or web-based teaching has received much more attention from scholars than educational broadcasting in Nigeria, thus undermining the fact that educational broadcasting is also an effective and efficient means of delivering educational modules to school learners. This study, therefore, investigated the level of awareness of the BCOS “School on Air” programme among secondary school students in the Ibadan metropolis during the Covid-19 lockdown and the challenges that those that participated faced. Thorstein Veblen’s technological determinism was the theoretical premise for analysing the data that were sourced through questionnaires and interviews from three hundred and sixty (360) respondents in twelve (12) wards in the Ibadan North East local government area of Oyo State. Data retrieved from the respondents was supported with that from oral interview sessions granted by purposively selected 12 students from the 12 wards of the study area. Findings revealed that poor internet network facilities, lack of sufficient information about the programme and lack of interest, among other factors, served as a hindrance to the effective utilisation of the educational broadcasting. A total of 52% of the respondents agreed that there is a lack of interactivity between teachers and the learners of the School on Air programme. Similarly, 55% of the respondents agreed that erratic electricity supply hindered learners from effectively accessing the programme. About 57% of the respondents agreed that poor internet network facilities also constituted a restraint on the effectiveness of the learners to access the programme. This study concluded that the BCOS School on Air Programme was poorly advertised and fraught with too many challenges to have any meaningful impact on the target audience and recommended that the government should embrace educational broadcasting in a more purposeful way.